Vending-machine.



PATENTED JULY '7, 1908. E. Q. RAST & G- D. -SGHRUM VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. '15, 1906.

s SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Non 892,683. PATENTED JULY 7, 1908.

P. Q. RAST & G. D. SOHRUM.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 15, 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES INVENTORS A No. 892,683. PATENTED JULY 7, 1908. P. Q. EAST & G. D. SCHRUM.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLIDATION FILED AUG. 15, 1906.

BSHEETS-SHEET 8.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FELIX Q. RAST, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND GEORGE D. SOHRUM, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNORS, BY HESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO UNIVERSAL SALESMAN 00., OF DETROIT,

MICHIGAN.

VENDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July '7, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FELIX Q. RAs'r, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, and GEORGE D. SO'I-IRUM, of Detroit, in the county of ayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending-\Iachines; and we do hereby declare the following to be 'a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art .to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to improvements in vending machines, and more particularly to improved coin controlled mechanism there.- for, the object of the invention being to provide improvements of this character of simple, inexpensive construction, and which can only be operated by the proper coin.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as will be more fully hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in front elevation with front plate removed, illustrating our-improvements. Fig. 2 is a view in cross section, Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views showing the shaft 2 and locking mechanism Fig. 5 is a sectional view through plate 5 and guide 6. Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views showing the receiver 30 and shaft 2, and Figs. 8 and 9 are views of the coin insertingdevices.

1 represents a front casing for a vending machine, supporting our improved coin controlled mechanism, and a horizontal shaft 2, is supported in said casing 1, has a goods ejecting arm 3 thereon in the casing, and is provided with an operating crank arm 4 outside the casing, secured to one end of the shaft 2.

In the upper portion of casing 1, improved coin dropping mechanism is provided, and comprises a supporting plate 5, secured to casing 1 and having a cast. guide 6 secured to the under face of plate 5 and in which a slide 7 is mounted and is exposed through an opening in plate 5. This slide 7 has an opening 8 to receive the coin, and is approximately the thickness of the coin, so that if a thicker coin or counterfeit is placed in the slide, the latter cannot be moved, as the counterfeit will not pass the edge of late 5. The outer end of slide 7 is providef with a lug or push button 9, and a pin 10 is provided on the inner end of said slide, movable in a tubular extension 11 on the guide casting 6, and a coiled spring 12 is located around pin 10 to normally hold the slide outward and return it to such position after it is forced inward to drop a coin.

Secured to the casting 6 and below an opening therein, is a coin chute 13 to receive the coins dropped by slide 7 and direct them into a main chute 14, to be hereinafter described, and this chute 13 has a lug 14 to which a cross bar 15 is secured by a screw 16 and serves to hold a magnet 17 in position. The ends of this magnet 17 are bent at right angles and project into position below plate 5 and lie above slide 7, so that any counterfeits of metal attracted by the magnet, will be held in the slide and not allowed to drop into-the chute 13.

The main coin chute 14, is provided at its upper end with lugs 18, pivotally supported on a cross rod 19, to permit the chute 14 to swing. This chute 14 inclines from the center of easing 1, at its upper end, to one side of the casing, at its lower end, and the chute is given a compound curvature from front to rear, as clearly shown in Fig. The back of this chute 14, is made with an elongated opening 20 in the back of its forwardly curving upper portion, to drop out all counterfeits of metal or coins not attracted by the magnet but which are smaller in diameter than the proper coin, as the opening 20 is but slightly less in width than the diameter of the proper coin and will permit nothing smaller to move down the chute.

An opening in the lower end, and front face, of chute 14, is normally closed by a defiector 21, which latter is pivotally secured to lugs 22 by screws 23 and provided with a crank 24 at one end, a coiled spring 25 being connected to said crank 24 normally holding the deflector out of the coin passage and against a shoulder 26. A deflector operat ing bracket 27 is pivotally secured to the casing, has an arm 27 above crank 24, and is provided with a platform 28, the latter made with downwardly curved ends. This platform 28, when a goods channel is empty, will be engaged by the weight in said channel, to

depress the crank 24, and move the deflector back into the coin chute, and any coin then dropped into the machine, will be deflected by the deflector 21 back into the delivery pocket of the machine, and thus be returned to the purchaser.

Secured on shaft 2, below the lower end of coin chute 14, is a sleeve 29, made with a coin receiver 30 at one end and directly below the coin chute. This receiver 30 is made with an inclined groove or recess 32 to receive the coin, and the coin is held in this inclined groove by a depending lug 31 on one side of the coin chute, and when the roper coin is in position, its lower edge wil be in the groove 32, its upper edge in chute 14, and

its edge at one side resting against lug 31 to prevent its rolling out of the inclined groove 32. The coin thus serves to connect the chute 14 and coin receiver 30 together, so that when shaft 2 is turned, it will swing chute 14 sufficiently to release the shaft locking mechanism now to be described.

A bell-crank-lever 33 is pivoted between its ends to the side wall of casing 1, and its lower end, normally lies in the path of a lug or shoulder 34 on sleeve 29, to prevent the shaft 2 from being turned far enough to eject the goods, but allow the shaft sufficient movement to bend and throw out lead or other soft counterfeits which may pass through the chute into position in the receiver, without moving the chute and oper ating the machine.

The upper and approximately horizontal member of lever 33, is made with an enlargement 35 lying in the path of an arm 36 on chute 14. A coiled spring 37 holds the lever in normal position, and a coiled spring 38 holds the chute in its forward normally set position.

The operation is as follows :The coin, assuming it to be the proper coin to operate the machine, is placed in slide 7 and the latter moved inward, to drop the coin down chutes 13 and 14 and into receiver 30, where it will lock the chute l4 and receiver 30 together as above explained. The operator then turns shaft 2 by means of the crank 4 thereon,- which through the medium of the coin, causes the chute 14 to swing rearward, and the arm 36 on said chute bearing against the enlargement 35 on lever 33, will swing the latter, tomove its lower end out of the path of shoulder 34 and permit the shaft 2 to be turned to throw out a package of goods. A slight movement of chute 14 is sufiicient to move lever 33, when the arm 36 rides over enlargement 35 and the parts are ready to be returned to their normal positions by their springs, when the shaft 2 is returned to its normal position by its spring 37.

Teeth are provided on a disk 38 secured to shaft 2 and a double acting dog 39 engages these teeth to compel the shaft to turn a full operative stroke before return to operate the goods ejecting mechanism, not necessary to here describe.

It will be seen that with my improvements practically nothing but the proper coin can be inserted into the machine to operate. Assuming the proper coin to be a penny or one cent piece. If any washer, slug, or other counterfeit of iron or like metal is inserted, it cannot drop out of the slide as the magnet will prevent any downward movement of the counterfeit and it will be returned in the slide. If the counterfeit is of a metal not attracted by the magnet but smaller than a penny, it will fall out of the chute through the opening in the back thereof. If the counterfeit is thicker than the penny the slide cannot be forced inward. If the counterfeit is of the size of a penny but of softer metal or other material not attracted by the magnet, it will pass down the chute, but it will not have sufficient strength to lock the coin receiver and chute together and will be bent or broken and knocked out of position when the shaft is turned without moving the chute in the slightest. 'The machine therefore cannot be operated by anything but a penny or a copper or brass disk of the size of a penny which owing to the fact that such counterfeits are very rare and would cost practically the same as a penny, renders the machine proof against practically every form of counterfeit.

'A great many slight changes might be made in the general form and arrangement of the parts described without departing from our invention and hence we do not restrict ourselves to the precise details set forth but consider ourselves at liberty to make such slight changes and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of our invention.

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is 1. In a coin controlled mechanism for vending machines, the combination with a swinging chute, of an operating shaft, a coin receiver on the shaft, a lever locking the shaft, and an arm on the chute moved by the latter when the chute is connected with the receiver by the coin, to move the lever and permit the shaft to operate.

2. In a coin controlled mechanism for vending machines, the combination with a coin chute, a goods ejecting shaft and means for turning the shaft, of a coin receiver on the shaft below the chute having an inclined groove or recess to receive a coin, a lug on the chute preventing the coin from rolling out of the receiver and out of its connecting position between the chute and receiver, and shaft locking mechanism unlocked when the chute is swung by the coin in the receiver.

' 3. In a coin controlled mechanism for In testimony whereof, we have signed this 10 specification 1n the presence of two subscrib- 111g witnesses.

FELIX Q. EAST. GEORGE D. SCHRUM.

Witnesses:

ALEX. M. REA, DAVID N. HARPER. 

